1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage container for housing and storing an ink jet cartridge when it is not in use. Such a cartridge is attachable to or detachable from a recording apparatus which performs a desired recording by discharging ink from a discharge port.
2. Related Background Art
For an ink jet recording apparatus which performs a desired recording by discharging ink from its recording head, various embodiments are known wherein a recording head and an ink tank containing ink to be discharged from the recording head are provided separately to replace the currently-used ink tanks when the ink therein is exhausted, and a cartridge type comprising a recording head and an ink tank integrally, which is structured to be replaceable with respect to an apparatus.
The recording head of a cartridge form is housed for storage in such a manner that a seal is placed on the discharge port portion of the recording head and further, the seal for the discharge port portion is covered and secured thereto by a cap, such as the so-called blister pack housing container, when the cartridge is distributed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-101944, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-101945, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-176156, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-234659, for example.
Now, if for some reason the ink jet cartridge should be stored temporarily while it is still in use for recording, it is difficult to utilize the above-mentioned storage container for preserving the cartridge for further use. In other words, although it is possible to attach a cap to the cartridge after it has been opened once for use, and store it in the container, it is impossible to obtain an airtight seal of the discharge ports; thus it is not possible to fully suppress the evaporation of ink from the discharge port portion, leading to a possibility that the discharge ports become clogged among other adverse effects.
On the other hand, there are proposed storage container structures for storing a cartridge of the kind such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-93265, and others. The proposed structures are such that a cover is provided to make the inner space of the container substantially airtight while material of extremely low permeability is used to form the container in order to suppress the evaporation of ink.
Nevertheless, there is still a possibility that ink is evaporated until the component in the inner airtight space becomes the same as the component of the ink, that is, until an equilibrium state is reached, or a possibility that the ink begins leaking from the discharge ports due to changes in surrounding environment. It is also difficult to secure sufficient airtightness; hence causing the discharge ports may still become clogged in some cases. The reliability of this scheme is not good enough.